1. Field of Art
The disclosure generally relates to the field of electronic communications and more specifically, to distributing messages independently of the sending or receiving devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic communication is normally available only between similar devices or message types. When a user sends an e-mail message through an e-mail client, the sender specifies the e-mail addresses of the recipients and the message is delivered to the e-mail accounts of the recipients who retrieve the messages through e-mail clients. Similarly, a user will send a Short Message Service (SMS) message from a cell phone, specify the phone numbers of the recipients, and the recipients will view the message on their cell phones. Similar procedures are normally followed for Instant Messaging (IM) and Web-based communication (such as a web-based discussion forum).
While there is some ability to communicate between devices or message types, there are still significant limitations. For example, it is possible to send SMS messages from a web-based interface and it is possible to send SMS messages from a cell phone to an e-mail account. However, these features are often provider-specific (for example, a user often must go to a specific provider, e.g., Verizon, website to send SMS messages to that specific provider's mobile phone service, i.e., Verizon) and do not provide more generally useful cross-device communication capabilities. Also, a sender is still required to send to a particular receiving device or format of the receiver and the sender must know the appropriate address to send to. For example, instead of being able to send a message to a user and allow the user to receive the message however the user chooses (e-mail, IM, or SMS), the sender must specify the method of receipt and the corresponding address (for example, SMS with a phone number).
Additionally, there is no general method of sending a message to multiple users who may be receiving the same message using different devices or interfaces. For example, a user may want to send a message to three SMS recipients (all using different cell phone service providers), two e-mail recipients, and a web interface recipient.
In general, the current state of the art lacks, inter alia, a system and method for sending a message to multiple receivers where the sender and receivers are using different devices and interface, and where the sender does not need to have knowledge of the receiver's particular device and interface, or the receiver's address for the particular device and interface of choice.